Sequoia Capital has created over $3.3 trillion dollars in value.

Steal their pitch deck framework for free:

The single best trait of an entrepreneur is someone who can tell a story.

Investors have a short attention span.

They will give you the most attention at the start of your pitch.

In the first 5 minutes be crystal clear about what you actually do.

Let's dive in:
1. Company Purpose

What is your mission?

Condense into a simple powerful sentence.

Don't list features– communicate your purpose.

Include a simple graphic that describes your business model.

Nobody cares what you can do. Everybody cares what you can do for them.
2. Problem

What challenges do you address and solve?

• Describe the pain of your customer (bigger the better)
• Explain how this is currently addressed
• Show why the current market offerings are inadequate

Don't build a solution that's looking for a problem.
3. Solution

What key points will communicate the most value?

• What was your 'aha' moment?
• Why is your value proposition unique and compelling?
• Are you building a competitive moat such as network effects?
• How big can this market grow?
4. Why Now

Timing is everything.

The best companies have a clear why now.

• Why hasn't your solution been built before?
• What industry trends make this the perfect time to act?

A famous example is Netflix: high-speed internet made streaming services possible.
5. Market Size

Can this be a really big opportunity?

• Total addressable market (TAM) = total market demand
• Serviceable available market (SAM) = portion of TAM served by the company
• Serviceable obtainable market (SOM) = percentage of SAM which is realistically achieved
6. Competition

Thiel said:

"All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition."

Who are your direct and indirect competitors?

Know your market– map these out on an x/y axis.

What's your plan to win & differentiate?
7. Product

I recommend pre-recoding a demo with Loom.

You get to record your screen and camera whilst giving a clear explanation.

A picture is worth 1000 words, a movie is worth a million pictures.

Bring the solution alive.
8. Business Model

How do you make money?

Typically it falls into a few buckets:

• Advertising
• Subscription
• Transactions

Include metrics around critical areas including:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Life time value (LTV)
9. Team

Your people are the most important factor that determine whether your startup succeeds or fails.

People recruit talent, garner attention and win deals.

Highlight special talents and experiences that make the individual suited to the business.
10. Financials

Don't get lost in the numbers– keep it simple.

I recommend highlighting key metrics and growth charts.

Show sources and uses (what you are raising and how you will spend it).

What are the key milestones?

Using a timeline will help demonstrate your runway.
TL;DR:

1. Company Purpose
2. Problem
3. Solution
4. Why Now
5. Market Size
6. Competition
7. Product
8. Business Model
9. Team
10. Financials
Follow me @thealexbanks for more threads on startups and investing.

If you liked this thread, you'll love the newsletter.

Subscribe here:
https://t.co/vlGCY549bQ
To go deeper on pitch deck metrics you should include, here's another thread I think you'll enjoy:
https://t.co/nIK8C3AFgL
Want advice on your pitch deck?

I've helped raise millions across early and late stage.

DM me!
Help the community grow and quote-tweet this thread: https://t.co/fkcmfP48x6

More from Alex Banks

Hard skills get you in.

But soft skills get you far.

10 threads that will accelerate your career:

1/ Who: @RomeenSheth

What: Enter through the side door

Tweet:


2/ Who: @slizagna

What: Resume


3/ Who: @heykahn

What: Soft skill


4/ Who: @SahilBloom

What: Nail the
10 threads that will teach you more about business than any business degree:

1/ Who: @naval

What: Principles to wealth creation

Tweet:


2/ Who: @sweatystartup

What: Actions to wealth creation

Tweet:


3/ Who: @RomeenSheth

What: Early career


4/ Who: @heykahn

What: Career

You May Also Like

1. Project 1742 (EcoHealth/DTRA)
Risks of bat-borne zoonotic diseases in Western Asia

Duration: 24/10/2018-23 /10/2019

Funding: $71,500
@dgaytandzhieva
https://t.co/680CdD8uug


2. Bat Virus Database
Access to the database is limited only to those scientists participating in our ‘Bats and Coronaviruses’ project
Our intention is to eventually open up this database to the larger scientific community
https://t.co/mPn7b9HM48


3. EcoHealth Alliance & DTRA Asking for Trouble
One Health research project focused on characterizing bat diversity, bat coronavirus diversity and the risk of bat-borne zoonotic disease emergence in the region.
https://t.co/u6aUeWBGEN


4. Phelps, Olival, Epstein, Karesh - EcoHealth/DTRA


5, Methods and Expected Outcomes
(Unexpected Outcome = New Coronavirus Pandemic)
“We don’t negotiate salaries” is a negotiation tactic.

Always. No, your company is not an exception.

A tactic I don’t appreciate at all because of how unfairly it penalizes low-leverage, junior employees, and those loyal enough not to question it, but that’s negotiation for you after all. Weaponized information asymmetry.

Listen to Aditya


And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.

I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.

You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.

Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]